Upper Carboniferous-Lower Permian

Course name: Introduction to the Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of Spain

Saint Louis University, Madrid Campus, Faculty: Science and Engineering
Semester:  Spring 2005.

Course description: This course gives an introduction into the Paleontology and Paleoanthropology of Spain. Basic principles and methods of Paleontology and Paleoanthropology will be outlined. Especially presented will be the origins of life and human beings, evolution, and extinctions. The paleontological part will concentrate on some interesting Spanish case studies (reefs of the Devonian period, swamp forests of the Carboniferous period, shallow sea of the Jurassic period, dinosaurs from the Upper Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous, and mammals and insects of the Tertiary period). In the center of the paleoanthropological part will be the famous findings of Homo antecessor and Homo heidelbergensis in the caves of Atapuerca and their importance for our knowledge about Human evolution.

Course Calendar:
Monday, Jan. 17: 1. Introduction – What are Fossils?
Wednesday, Jan. 19: 2. The Geologic Time Scale
Monday, Jan. 24, & Wednesday, Jan. 26: 3. Evolution and Taxonomy – Biology and Paleontology in Dialogue (I)
Thursday, Jan. 27: End of DROP/ADD period
Monday, Jan. 31, & Wednesday, Feb. 2: 3. Evolution and Taxonomy – Biology and Paleontology in Dialogue (II) & 4. Biogeography and Mass Extinctions (I)
Monday, Feb. 7: 4. Biogeography and Mass Extinctions (II)
Wednesday, Feb. 9: 5. From the Origins of Life to the Silurian
Monday, Feb. 14: Review & Preparation of first mid-term exam
Monday, Feb. 14: Deadline for the submission of the title of the paper
Wednesday, Feb. 16: First mid-term exam.
Monday, Feb. 21: 6. Reefs of the Devonian Period
Wednesday, Feb. 23: 7. Swamp Forests of the Carboniferous Period (I)
Monday, Feb. 28: 7. Swamp Forests of the Carboniferous Period (II) & 8. Reptiles of the Triassic Period
Wednesday, Mar. 2: 9. Life of the Shallow Sea of the Jurassic Period (I)
Saturday, Mar. 5, to Sunday, Mar. 13: SPRING BREAK
Monday, Mar. 14: 9. Life of the Shallow Sea of the Jurassic Period (II)
Wednesday, Mar. 16: 10. Dinosaurs from the Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous (I)
Monday, Mar. 21: 10. Dinosaurs from the Upper Jurassic and Cretaceous (II)
Wednesday, Mar. 23: 11. Fossils of the Tertiary Period
Thursday, Mar. 24, to Sunday, Mar. 27: Easter
Monday, Mar. 28: Review & Preparation of second mid-term exam
Wednesday, Mar. 30: Second mid-term exam
Monday, Apr. 4: Deadline for the submission of papers and PowerPoint presentations
Monday, Apr. 4, & Wednesday, Apr. 6: 12. Outline of Human evolution.
Friday, Apr. 8: Last day to drop a class and receive a grade of "W"
Monday, Apr. 11, & Wednesday, Apr. 13: 13. The Earliest Man in Spain – the Homo from Orce. & 14. Homo antecessor and Homo heidelbergensis from the Caves of Atapuerca (Prov. Burgos) (I)
Saturday, Apr. 16: Field trip to Guadalajara
Monday, Apr. 18: 14. Homo antecessor and Homo heidelbergensis from the Caves of Atapuerca (Prov. Burgos) (II)
Wednesday, Apr. 20: 15. The Humans after Homo heidelbergensis in Spain.
Monday, Apr. 25, & Wednesday, Apr. 27: Presentation of papers

The only known coal bed in the Late Pennsylvanian Bursum Formation crops out in Carrizo Arroyo, Valencia County, New Mexico. Biozonation using fossils of conodonts, insects and plants suggests a latest Pennsylvanian age. The coal was first reported by Darton in 1928, and palynofloras have been previously obtained from strata below and above it. Associated megaflora was noted but not illustrated. Here, we re-describe the coal-bearing interval in detail, describe and illustrate a palynoflora from the coal and some elements of the megaflora from above and below it. The peat body from which the coal is derived appears to have formed in an abandoned channel, possibly an oxbow lake or estuary. It is high in mineral matter and inertinite macerals. It may have formed during a widespread episode of Late Pennsylvanian tropical humid equability. This humid episode was relatively less intense in western Pangea than in central Pangea, where it led to thicker and more widespread peat formation. L...

Recent finds of tetrapod ichnites in the red-bed and volcaniclastic succession of the Iberian Pyrenean Basin permits an assessment of the faunal diversity and palaeoenvironment of a late early Permian setting. The tetrapod ichnoassemblage is inferred with the aid of photogrammetry and constituted byBatrachichnus salamandroides,Limnopusisp., cf.Amphisauropus(these three ichnotaxa present associated swimming traces, assigned toCharacichnos), cf.Ichniotherium,Dromopusisp., cf.Varanopus,Hyloidichnusisp. andDimetropus leisnerianus. These ichnotaxa suggest the presence of temnospondyls, seymouriamorphs, diadectomorphs, araeoscelids, captorhinids and synapsid pelycosaurs as potential trackmakers. These faunas correlate to the late early Permian. Two ichnoassociations correspond to two different palaeoenvironments that were permanently or occasionally aquatic (meandering fluvial systems and unconfined runoff surfaces, respectively). Ichnotaxa in the fluvial system is more diverse and abunda...

The only known coal bed in the Late Pennsylvanian Bursum Formation crops out in Carrizo Arroyo, Valencia County, New Mexico. Biozonation using fossils of conodonts, insects and plants suggests a latest Pennsylvanian age. The coal was first reported by Darton in 1928, and palynofloras have been previously obtained from strata below and above it. Associated megaflora was noted but not illustrated. Here, we re-describe the coal-bearing interval in detail, describe and illustrate a palynoflora from the coal and some elements of the megaflora from above and below it. The peat body from which the coal is derived appears to have formed in an abandoned channel, possibly an oxbow lake or estuary. It is high in mineral matter and inertinite macerals. It may have formed during a widespread episode of Late Pennsylvanian tropical humid equability. This humid episode was relatively less intense in western Pangea than in central Pangea, where it led to thicker and more widespread peat formation. L...

The only known coal bed in the Late Pennsylvanian Bursum Formation crops out in Carrizo Arroyo, Valencia County, New Mexico. Biozonation using fossils of conodonts, insects and plants suggests a latest Pennsylvanian age. The coal was first reported by Darton in 1928, and palynofloras have been previously obtained from strata below and above it. Associated megaflora was noted but not illustrated. Here, we re-describe the coal-bearing interval in detail, describe and illustrate a palynoflora from the coal and some elements of the megaflora from above and below it. The peat body from which the coal is derived appears to have formed in an abandoned channel, possibly an oxbow lake or estuary. It is high in mineral matter and inertinite macerals. It may have formed during a widespread episode of Late Pennsylvanian tropical humid equability. This humid episode was relatively less intense in western Pangea than in central Pangea, where it led to thicker and more widespread peat formation. L...

ABSTRACT The flora of the Tupe Formation (Upper Carboniferous-Lower Permian), at La Delfina Mine, San Juan, Argentina. Two plant assemblages from three levels of the Tupe Formation at La Delfina mine, north of Cuesta de Huaco in the San Juan Precordillera are described. The first assemblage occurs at the lower part of the Tupe Formation (levels N1 and N2), and is referred to the NBG (Nothorhacopteris argentinica-Botrychiopsis weissiana-Gynkgophyllum diazii) Biozone, that characterizes the Upper Carboniferous of NW Argentina. The second association was obtained from a third level (N7), 55 m approximately above level N2. It is composed by scarce remains referable with doubts to Kraeuselcladus argentinus Archangelsky, which could suggest the presence of the Uppermost Carboniferous Interval megafloristic Biozone. Sixty meters above this level a fossiliferous marine horizon occurs with elements of the Lower Permian, Tivertonia-Streptorhynchus Biozone. Thus, the Tupe Formation, in the area of the San Juan Precordillera, is referred to the Upper Carboniferous-Lower Permian interval, and the fossiliferous section at La Delfina mine is proposed as a potential stratotype for the Carboniferous-Permian boundary.